5 Favorite Topwater Baits

This is a post from my time working as a digital marketer for Sportsman Channel. I enjoyed contributing to the blog at Sportsman Channel by sharing my love for fishing.

This post covers my favorite topwater baits. Fishing’s my favorite thing to do outdoors. I suggest you try these baits as well for topwater success! Note: the buzzbait pictured here, was a top producer for me in catching northern pike and bass! I got it at Bass Pro Shops.

Unfortunately, Bass Pro Shops no longer carries this inline buzzbait model. I discovered this in 2016 and have found it hard to come across inline buzz-bait styles in sporting good stores since. The last fish I caught on the buzzbait shown here was a northern pike. And with that fish story, enjoy hearing about my top 5 topwater baits:

By Josh Schwartz – written for Sportsman Channel – June, 2015

Topwater fishing is an adrenaline rush and you may already be thinking of your favorite topwater lure. It’s that anxious feeling of knowing at any moment you’ll see an explosive strike that makes topwater fishing so darn fun.

Luckily, there’s an abundance of topwater baits to choose from and it’s good to have a variety in your tackle box to use different techniques. Here’s our 5 favorite topwater baits, we’ll start with a classic and end with a classic.

The Arbogast Jitterbug is a classic topwater bait. Steadily reel it in as the suspense builds towards an explosive strike. A great choice for the night bite.

The popper is a versatile topwater lure, walking the dog, chugging, popping and letting it sit, and more, you can try different retrieves until a fish reacts!

A great weedless option, there’s a tremendous selection of effective frog baits to choose from. Pictured here is a soft plastic option. Using soft plastic frogs as this one, allow you to use the size hook you prefer. Using monofilament line will help keep the frog on the surface.

This bait does a great job annoying bass and northern into striking, and when they do it’s one of the most exciting strikes to watch. Another great option if you’re fishing weedy areas. It’s best to start the reeling just before the lure hits the water and continue to reel quickly to keep the blades spinning and water churning.

The Heddon Torpedo is another classic topwater lure.  Short, quick twitches get the prop turning entice fish to strike. Also can be reeled with a slow/steady stop-in-go retrieve.

We all probably have heard this, yet it’s a good reminder: wait until you feel weight, then set the hook. It sounds easier than it is because it’s a natural reaction to set the hook when you see the strike.

Now, we want to know: what’s your favorite topwater baits?

Catching Fish Fever By Spring Cleaning

This is a post from my time working as a digital marketer for Sportsman Channel. I enjoyed contributing to the blog at Sportsman Channel by sharing my love for fishing.

How I was inspired to write this: Early in May of 2015 I was routinely cleaning and organizing my tackle box for the fishing season. If my memory serves correctly, it was the very beginning of May, before the fishing opener. In Wisconsin the fishing opener is the first FULL weekend in May. So this may have right before that opening weekend began.

While going through my fishing gear that spring, it occurred to me that I was forming the tradition of cleaning out my tackle box every year. I felt inspired to correlate the notion of “spring cleaning” to fishing gear and had the idea of writing a blog post on it for work. It goes to show a guy can catch fish fever by glancing at his fishing gear!

By Josh Schwartz – written for Sportsman Channel – May, 2015

Is your spring cleaning done? When I think of spring cleaning, going through my fishing gear is first on the list and is sometimes where spring cleaning ends as my fish fever rises with the warmer weather.

I blame this on living in the midwest. It’s usually been a long winter, so my cabin fever begins in March. In fact, cabin fever’s at its highest for me during March and continues to rise until that first fishing trip without an ice auger.

Though I have other tackle boxes, this one’s my go-to. It’s small enough to be mobile, yet large enough to hold an assortment of fishing tackle.

These early days of spring have me preparing my fishing gear for the summer. It’s time to pack away the auger and tip-ups in favor of plastic frogs and buzzbaits. It’s also time to think of what lakes I want to try before summer’s end.

Each spring I check my supply of hooks, sinkers, jig heads, and the amount of line on my reels. Usually I replace line on all my reels during this spring cleaning phase.

Going through my tackle box is like therapy as I see topwater plugs like the Jitter Bug, Rapalas and crankbaits.

There’s just something soothing about going through my tackle box, it’s like therapy because it reminds me how much I enjoy fishing. And here’s why:

I imagine feeling a strike, hearing the drag, and reeling in the first catch of the day. This feeling comes from within and lingers all-year-long. You ever get this too? Just the urge to take-off and start fishing?

“Going through my fishing tackle box opens up spring fever. Add on the warm weather and every day I have the itch to cast a few.”

I start thinking about where I’ll be fishing this summer and all the memories that lay ahead from another spring and summer of fishing.

It’s the freedom of taking that first cast of a fishing trip at a lake of my choice. Just being able to choose where to fish is a great freedom we all enjoy.

Looking at lures in my tackle box, I remember the fish I’ve caught with them, where I was, and, friends and family I’ve fished with. It’s a rich sense of enjoying the simple things in life and the natural scenery.

Yea, going through my tackle box is my favorite part about spring, along with the weather getting warmer. All this feeds my addiction to fishing, and, maybe, yours too!

Why do you like fishing? Any memories come to mind as you go through your tackle box? What fishing gear do you go through as you’re spring cleaning?

Tying on Favorite Bass Lures

This is the first blog post I wrote for Sportsman Channel. As a digital marketer and fisherman, I enjoyed contributing to the blog at Sportsman Channel and sharing my love for fishing.

All fisherman have a favorite bait of theirs, and I wanted to share mine with the Sportsman Channel audience. I mention Mister Twister as one of my favorite baits, and little did I know that 3 years after writing this post, I would be their communications director! If you’re new to fishing, I believe these have great potential to become your favorite baits as well!

By Josh Schwartz – written for Sportsman Channel – April, 2013

Today’s post comes to us from Josh Schwartz, a member of Sportsman Channel’s digital team.  Josh is an avid sportsman who spends a great deal of his free time fishing.  Below is a list of his go to lures and this post reflects those that have proven effective for him when targeting bass in Southeastern WI.

Do you have lures that provide you with confidence superior to others in your tackle box?

Over the years, I’ve discovered certain lures to produce more bass for me than others and this post will show what those lures are and why they’re the most tied on.

Favorite Lures & Categories

My favorite lure categories are soft plastics and top waters.

My favorite lures to attack bass with are as follows: Jitterbug, buzz bait, jig, frog, and Rapala’s husky jerk.

I have had most success with jigs in the spring, buzz baits and jitterbugs mid to late summer into early fall.

Stay Versatile With Soft Plastics
In the soft plastic category my favorite options are twister tails, frogs, and minnow baits. <a href=”https://www.mistertwister.com/” target=”_blank”>Mister Twister plastics</a> and Kalin grubs are my favorite.

You can fish them weighted or weightless, on jig heads or hooks. Soft plastics work year round, work well in rivers and lakes, both for white bass, smallmoths, and largemouths. Plus, if you lose a jig it’s more affordable to replace than other lures and can easily switch colors without retying.

I’ve found success with jigs both on inland lakes and sections of the Fox River in Southeastern Wisconsin.

Watch The Strike

For top water bass lures, buzz baits and jitterbugs are my go-to. Why? Well, I’ve found you can vary your speed to the bass’s mood.

Buzz baits are usually zipped along the top to churn as much water and make as much noise as possible. Jitterbugs are fished slower and work best over calm water or with a slight chop.

Remember to vary your speed; experiment with a slower buzz bait retrieve. Bass will tell you when to slow down and when to speed up.

Top waters provide heart-pounding action you see. Strikes come unexpectedly so don’t set the hook as soon as you see the strike. Although a natural instinct, doing so will rip the bait from the fish leaving you with an empty hook set. Set the hook only upon feeling weight (I’m still working on this).

Diving For Bass

I caught this bass in early spring at Whitewater Lake, WI on a Rapala husky jerk.

For hard baits I like Bomber’s and Rapala’s. Bombers have a great wobble as they float to the surface. Rapala’s offer a variety of depths, options, and colors.

If you know the weed line depth or fishing by structure these baits will work great. You can consistently stay above, or alongside, the weed line or structure with the correct hard bait.

How ‘Bout Yourself?

What are your favorite bass lures? What species of bass is your favorite to catch?
Let us know what state you fish, and your favorite bass lures in the comments!

New Fishing Spot! Now What?

By Josh Schwartz – written for Sportsman Channel – July, 2014

Today’s post comes to us from Josh Schwartz, a member of Sportsman Channel’s digital team. Josh is an avid sportsman who spends a great deal of his free time fishing. Below is advice about new fishing spots.

Fishing A New Spot
As American sportsmen, we are blessed with the freedom to explore. One of my favorite things about fishing is the adventurous feeling of trying a new fishing spot. Fishing new spots can be challenging and you may feel lost at what lure or live bait rig to try. Here’s some advice to give you confidence when fishing a new area.

Enjoyed my time fishing at Trout Lake in northern Wisconsin. One of those days where it just felt good taking casts in a new area as I didn’t catch any fish. You may not always catch fish when trying out a new spot, just remember it’s called fishing not catching.

Shore Fishing
Shore fishing a new spot may be easier than trying to fish a new spot by boat.

I’ve found it easier to have a conversation with a person from shore than from boat. Talking with folks fishing near you is a great way to learn about your new fishing spot.
While shore fishing, you will be fishing a smaller area, making the new fishing spot less overwhelming. It’s easy to pick out a place and walk to it.

Ask Questions (listen)
When you get to your new fishing spot, talk to people fishing around you. This is the best way to get the most relevant ideas for your current location. Ask about bait, time of day and what types of fish are being caught. Get as much information as possible.

Asking questions can lead to a new technique that may also work at your regular fishing holes.

Look for a bait shop nearby to gather information. If your new spot is at a state campground, some have a DNR Warden on site you can talk to for fishing information. Getting advice from people around you is effective since you come across local knowledge you can use immediately.

I was fishing Lake Winnebago for the first time from shore. After I caught my first bass in calm water, looked for other calm areas and had more hookups.

Observe
There may not always be people around to talk with, so observing is critical. The following observations are simple, yet are easy to miss.

Watch how people are fishing. Pay attention to their retrieve and look to see what lure they are using. Often times observing can spark curiosity that will initiate conversation.

Look for man-made structures you know to hold fish, piers, docks and boat landings.

Look at the water clarity(more on water clarity later), the types of vegetation and whether the bottom is gravel, sand or muck. Seeing light to dark colored water usually means you’ve located a transition from shallow to deep water.

Look for points, current and cover, such as overhanging trees. Also look at what parts of the shoreline are sunny or shady. If it’s windy try fishing into the wind; if that doesn’t produce, look for a bay or where the water is calmer.

While shore fishing Lake Winnebago in Wisconsin for the first time recently, it was windy. I started by casting into the wind with a lure I had confidence in. When nothing was happening I chose to fish out of the wind and caught my first bass. Based on this, I fished similar areas with calmer water and less wind and continued catching bass.

One of many largemouth caught on a Kalin’s grub while fishing Lake Winnebago for the first time.

Remember Your “Confidence Baits”
If your new fishing spot has clear water, tie on a lure you’ve had success with in clear water before. Likewise, lures that have worked in similar water conditions before, can be successful in new your fishing spot when trying to figure out what to use.

Remembering what lures you’ve got fish on in the past will give you confidence and direction as what to tie on at a new fishing spot. If your confidence baits don’t work out, remember you can experiment with other baits.

My confidence bait is a jig-head and a Kalin’s grub. It’s been successful catching both largemouth and smallmouth bass, as well as pike, in rivers and a variety of lakes with different water clarity.

Do Research
Lake-link and the variety of fishing apps available are the norm, though, remember they’re not the only fishing resources. Check the DNR website for your state to also catch information beforehand.

For me, I check out Wisconsin’s DNR site by visiting the Find a lake page. From here I can search the lake I’m planning to fish and can find a “DNR Contacts” link for that lake. After clicking this link, a list of contacts appears. In the list, a name and number to call for “Fishing. Fish Management, Public Access,” is what I use to gain information about the lake and can talk to an actual person to get immediate feedback.

Another option is to find the DNR service center near you, stop by in person and ask for info on the lake you wish to try out, also ask if any more resources are available to you online about where you want to fish. They may have resources that will supplement what you have found online about the fishing spot you want to try for the first time.

Focus On The Adventure
There are times I’ve fished a new area with no success and then there’s times I’ve fished a new spot with much success. Either way, try not to focus on what you catch but rather on being in the great outdoors and the freedom we’re blessed with to fish a new area.

Photo taken from Lake Winnebago, WI at High Cliff State Park.

These tips may seem basic, but simple things can be easy to forget. It’s always worth going back to the basics and keeping it simple when first trying out a new fishing spot.

How do you fish a new spot? What do you use to learn about a new fishing area? Share in the comments!

23 Signs You’re Addicted To Fishing

This is a post from my time working as a digital marketer for Sportsman Channel. I enjoyed contributing to the blog at Sportsman Channel by sharing my love for fishing. After all, I’m addicted to fishing!

By far, this is my favorite post that I wrote for Sportsman Channel. One morning, while on a run, a lightbulb turned on to write “10 signs you’re addicted to fishing.” Upon arriving at the office after my morning workout, I jotted down my ideas, then asked colleagues around the office for theirs. I soon realized I had 23, which you can read about below. Enjoy!

By Josh Schwartz – written for Sportsman Channel – May 2015
We catch a buzz from fishing, and we embrace your fishing addiction. We’re addicted to fishing too! The only rehab for fishing is more fishing. So, here’s 23 signs you’re addicted to fishing:

1. You bring your kayak to work and it stays in your truck, so you’re always prepared.

2. Your fishing gear stays in your vehicle.

3. One more cast means one more cast in every direction, so, 10 or more casts.

last cast while fishing

To us addicted to fishing folks, “one last cast” means “one last cast in every direction.”

4. You squeeze in fishing before work and/or on lunch break.

5. You believe the only rehab for fishing is … more fishing!

6. You’ve brought your boat to work, to fish after work.

A car pulling a canoe trailer

If you’ve added a trailer hitch to every vehicle you’ve owned, you’re addicted to fishing.

7. While grocery shopping at Wal-Mart you walk out with fishing gear instead.

8. You find yourself looking for the sporting goods section at stores.

9. When you see a pond you think, “there’s gotta be bass in there.”

10. The word “bass” isn’t the subs in a car, it’s the fish.

11. You favor gas stations that sell bait and know which gas stations sell bait in a 5-mile radius of your house.

12. You’ve got 99 problems but fishing gear’s not any of them.

13. You cringe when you hear, “birds nest.”

14. Opening day means fishing, not baseball.

15. You mow your lawn at night so you have more daylight for fishing.

16. You name your first two kids Gill and Fin.

17. You have more fishing poles than socks.

18. You’re asked, “Why do you have so many fishing poles?”

19. Every lens you own is polarized.

20. You know ‘walking the dog’ doesn’t require a leash, nor a dog!

21. You have more pictures of your trophy catches on your desk than of family.

22. The local tackle shop knows you by name.

23. All your selfies have fish in them.

josh addicted to fishing for smallmouth bass

This guy is addicted to fishing for smallmouth bass.

How to Make Venison Burgers

How to Make Venison Burgers

They say extra lean ground beef is healthy for you. This recipe cooks up even leaner meat, venison. Venison burgers will leave ya feeling satisfied, not stuffed and ready for a nap. You’ll feel lighter than you would eating a beef burger.

Now, because venison’s such a lean meat, it requires more attention while cooking. It’s easy to overcook venison since there’s minimal to no fat in deer meat. Leave some red color to the meat so it’s juicy. If you want leftovers, leave more red to the meat so you won’t overcook it while microwaving tomorrow’s dinner.

how to make venison burgers

Venison burgers are a quick way to enjoy a great meal. Great thing is that condiments/sides that go well with beef burgers also go well with venison.

 

What you’ll need to make venison burger meal pictured:

  • 1lb or less of ground venison or enough to feed however many you’re feeding
  • Charcoal grill or George Foreman grill preferred
  • Pickles, onions, pickles, ketchup, mustard any seasoning desired. – I chose not to use seasoning.

What you do:

  • Make patties with hands
  • Lay on grill
  • Watch them closely, 5-10 minutes
  • Toast bread if desired, enjoy a quick way to enjoy a wild game meal!

This post is long overdue and is part of the series of venison dinners I made from my first deer. Two other recipes will be posted in the coming weeks. One’s for making venison chili and the final one’ll be for a venison roast.

Here’s other venison recipes worth a shot:

Appreciating Nature While Outdoors

Appreciating Nature – God’s Creation 

snow on trees

Each time you’re afield, take time to appreciate nature; things that you can only observe from being outdoors. Sounds simple, though, do we always do this?

While out hunting during this past year, this thought came to mind, “enjoy the simple and come back for more.”

Slow… down… and enjoy the world around you; observe what’s around you. What’s the weather doing? How do the trees look? What’s above you? What are you walking on, dirt, sand, gravel, is there a marsh coming up?

Feel the sense of freedom of the great outdoors. Exploration makes up hunting as well as the shot itself. It’s just another reason why “smacking some birds” or “smoking a deer” are not the only things that make up hunting.

appreciating nature

Reached out to catch the snowflakes as they fell during Wisconsin’s late bowhunting season.

 

Take snowflakes for example. We have learned that snowflakes are geometric patterns either from articles, science class or pictures of them.  However, to actually hold a snowflake in your hand and make out their geometric design is awesome and in real time. It’s one of the mysteries of God’s creation. God created this world for us, you and I to enjoy.

A random thought here, It’s always amazing to me how the trees can grow upright, against gravity.

 

 

appreciate nature

Saw a fallen tree from a distance and pictured myself making a fort of it if I were stranded.

This post been in my head for a while so decided to take a break from the venison recipes to share. Next post will continue the venison recipe series.

Venison Meatballs

Venison Meatballs

 

venison meatballs and pasta

This was the first spaghetti meal with venison meatballs.

In the previous post, “the hunt continues,” I mentioned doing a series of posts on venison meals from my first deer. So, let’s start making venison meatballs!

Venison meatballs turned out to be a favorite way to use ground venison.

There’s two ways I prepared venison meatballs and I’ll share with ya the recipes below. First, we’ll go over the part that’ll make or break your venison meatballs: cooking time.

 

Cooking Time
For venison meatballs, 10-12 minutes in an oven preheated to 350 degrees will get ‘er done. Anything over 12 and you start losing flavor, drastically. Less is more when it comes to cooking time, especially if you plan to reheat wild game meals for leftovers. This leads me to the next point: cook venison meatballs closer to 10 minutes so microwaving won’t over cook leftover venison meatballs.

venison meatballs

Prepare a 9×13 pan with butter or extra-virgin olive oil. Then place rolled venison meatballs, with ingredients added, in the pan. Place in an oven preheated to 350 degrees.

You always need to be attentive and near the grill, oven or stove that you’re using to make a wild game or fish meal. Stand by the cooking source, do not leave it.

Two Venison Meatball Recipes To Try

Recipe 1) Using seasoning:.

  • Italian Seasoning
  • Garlic Powder
  • 1 lb ground venison

What you do:

Roll up ground venison with your hands. While rolling, shake on Italian seasoning and garlic powder. (*No measuring of spices required. This way, you’ll find some meatballs  will have more garlic, some more Italian season. Each one will have it’s own flavor, a surprise in every bite!) Place meatballs in a 9×13 pan pre-treated with either butter or extra-virgin olive oil (extra-virgin olive oil is meant for baking at high temps). Put pan in an oven preheated to 350 degrees.

Recipe 2) Using fresh onion and garlic:

  • 2 minced garlic cloves
  • 1 minced small onion
  • 1 lb ground venison

What you do:

Mince garlic cloves and small onion. Mix together the minced garlic and onion on cutting board. Roll venison meatballs into a ball with your hands. While rolling, sprinkle in minced garlic and onion mixture. Add as desired. Place meatballs in a 9×13 pan pre-treated with either butter or extra-virgin olive oil. Put in an oven preheated to 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Venison Meatballs-garlic and onion

Note: a butcher knife is the recommended knife for mincing. A sharp knife is a must.
I do not have a butcher knife, the knife pictured did the job becuase it was sharp!

(Before cooking my first deer, I had no desire to mince anything. Yet, when seeing minced garlic was an ingredient to making venison chili, I learned by watching “how to mince garlic” YouTube video. To me, hunting and fishing create a willingness to learn more about cooking.)

 

Next Venison Meal: Grilled Deer Heart 

 
 

The Hunt Continues

The Hunt Continues After The Shot.

(Second blog post on my first deer.)

Remember, the hunt continues after the shot. After the shot, the deer will need to be gutted. After gutting, the deer will need to be skinned and processed. It’s why hunters say, “the shot is just one part of hunting.”

My dad, grandpa and I worked to skin and quarter my first deer. (The quartering process was another part of the hunt that made memories.) After skinning, I took the meat to be processed. Taking the meat to be processed took priority to getting the head and hide to the taxidermist.

Cooking Your Trophy Is the Greatest Trophy

In my book, the meat was the trophy. I say this because when fishing and hunting, obtaining a meal is my main objective. The goal of my previous deer hunts was to obtain deer meat. Going 13 years without shooting a deer, made each meal of my first deer it’s own trophy. With my first deer, I’m able to cook meals with meat from a deer I shot myself. (Achieving the goal set when obtaining my hunter’s safety license.) At each meal, memories of those who have helped me come to life again.

grilled deer heart

Grilling the heart of my first deer. Eating the heart brought the hunt full circle that much more.

When eating wild game from your hunts, the hunt is prolonged. Each time I sink my teeth into venison, I relive the shot, as well as, gutting and skinning the deer.

First deer mount

The European mount of my first deer was a bonus. Trophy from the hunt: venison and sharing time with family

Gain Responsibility 

It’s a fact that hunting also teaches how to be responsible with the game you kill. Hunters should remember this; anti-hunters must learn to understand this. Therefore, as a sportsman, I want to respect the animal by making sure the meat does not go to waste. This is why hunting teaches responsibility. Hunters learn the value of life and what it means to be a steward of the land.

Learn Cooking Skills

Just as fishing helps me cook, hunting teaches me about cooking as well. In the next series of blog posts I will be sharing meals and recipes made with the venison from my first deer taken during the 2013 Wisconsin bowhunting season.

Here’s a few venison meals – more meals to be added to this list:

The Hunt Continues

Above all, I’ll continue to look forward to future hunts and meals with wild game and fish, and, yearn for the next hunting season. It’s why “the hunt continues.” And if I don’t get anything, that’s alright too. My passion for the adventure and the thrill of even finding sign is what drives me. Read more on the following posts:

Blessings: A First Deer

God blessed me with my first deer on September 21, 2013.

This day, and the preparation for this day, was filled with teamwork. Each venison meal brings back memories of the hunt I shot my first deer. It’s a great taste. There’s only one “first deer” for a hunter.

first deer

A trail camera about 30 yards from the tree I was sitting in captured me and my first deer. We found the deer the morning of September, 22. I dragged it from the brush to the clearing.

It was a calm September evening. I was sitting 20 feet up a tree listening to a Tom turkey calling, while anticipating any kind a movement from a deer. All of a sudden tall grass was moving in the distance. Then, lower branches of a tree on the edge of a cornfield began to shake. (If I was sleeping, I would have missed the subtle movement, and possibly, my first deer.)

Deer were walking through the woods towards the cornfield.

My heart began pumping quicker as the deer kept walking. I couldn’t make out if the two deer were bucks or does at this point because they were in the brush.

At first it seemed they were heading into the cornfield. Next minute, it seemed as if they were heading towards me. A few seconds passed and, sure enough, the deer were heading my way!

Instantly, my heart started to pound and my breathing increased. They were closer and out of the heavy brush, one was a buck, the other a doe.

Both deer stopped at a clearing about 40 yards away. Suddenly, the buck started walking towards me. He then stopped abruptly, shook his head violently and jogged back towards the clearing’s edge where the doe was standing still. I asked myself, “Did he get wind of me or hear me breathing hard?” (I jokingly wondered if they could hear my heart because it was still pounding.)

To my surprise, the doe he was with began walking in, hugging the treeline beside the clearing. Closer and closer she game. She then stopped and began feeding. She was 20 yards from me.

whitetail doe

The buck followed this doe. The trail camera captured the doe that was with the buck I took.

The buck, still at the clearing’s opening, started towards the doe following her path. As the buck walked closer, I could tell it was a young buck. As he continued to walk into a comfortable shooting range, about 20 yards, his walking slowed. Aiming for the rib cage I released my arrow. Thunk! I heard and saw the arrow hit.

Upon impact, the buck dashed towards the West through the treeline and into tall grass. Turning away from the cornfield ahead of him, he stayed in the tall grass and made a half circle back towards the woods. I took mental pictures of that path and continued to look where I heard him last.

Man, was I shaken-up and full of adrenaline. I took several deep breaths while thinking, “I just arrowed my first deer! I get to eat venison! Now I must wait 30 minutes before I start after him.” It was 6:30 when I shot him. (Rule of thumb is to wait 30 minutes before looking for a deer, especially in bowhunting.)

 Patience In A Tree
That was a long 30 minutes. I spent it thanking God for this hunt, praying my hit was as solid as it looked and observing nature. My heart rate gradually fell as I looked towards the sky. Also figured this was a good time to pull out my phone to remember how high I was. It was clear and the sun was shining on the cornfield enhancing its golden color. Most leaves were still green with a few turning color this second weekend of bow season.

When my pocket watch f i n a l l y reached 7 o’clock, I slowly climbed down the the ladder-stand. Walking towards where I shot the buck, I heard movement behind my treestand. I paused and questioned myself, “Am I starting too soon?” Silence shortly followed, so I continued to where I remembered the deer take-off after the shot. I found tracks, blood and a few feet further, my arrow. The arrow provided proof it was a good hit. There was red blood and it didn’t have a foul smell.

I found blood and started tracking until I came across a small creek and lost the blood trail. It was now 7:20 and getting dark. I took out my flashlight but could not pick up a blood trail again. Because of the movement I heard early on, I turned back and headed to camp to get advice of more experienced hunters.

Sunset while deer hunting

Walking back to camp that evening, I turned to admire the sunset.

 Around 8PM
Back at camp, I told my hunting party I had hit a deer, felt confident of my shot, lost the blood trail and asked for advice. After seeing my arrow, they also said it was a good hit. We headed back out after the deer.

Arriving at my stand, I picked up the initial blood trail and we all continued to follow it. Finding more of the trail than I did, we found an area of heavy blood and it seemed as if this was the end of the blood trail. We decided to head back and return in the morning.

 Is It Morning Yet?
The night was long. Prayer and anxiety made it tough to fall asleep. I was still replaying the shot in my mind.  Although I was confident of my shot, I was questioning the hit since we were going back out in the morning to look for the deer.

Morning came. We headed out to begin the search. Not long after searching, we found my first deer! The deer was about 50 yards behind the tree I was sitting in. It was found beside a tree in thick brush.

Holding my first deer.

Fulfillment is the best word to describe how I felt walking up to the deer and laying hands on it. Though hunting is a solo sport, it took teamwork for my first deer and I appreciate everyone that helped.

I have been gun deer hunting since 13 and started bowhunting in 2012. Although I didn’t get a deer in 2012, I learned hunting skills and bowhunting preparation that was crucial in getting my first deer on September 21, 2013. The friends and family who helped out are as much a part of this as myself.